I was chatting with one of the baristas at one of my favorite coffee shops, and he mentioned that he was using a non-homogenized 5% fat milk.

So, in an attempt to reproduce their incredible cappuccinos, I went in search of a higher fat non-homogenized whole milk. I couldn't find such a thing, but I did end up purchasing a container of the Organic Valley Grass fed whole milk.

The milk is tasty, but no matter what I do, I can't seem to get it to foam. It just doesn't seem to hold any air! Funny, because I have the opposite problem with the regular Organic Valley whole milk. I would shake the container aggressively before pouring some into a pitcher, but it never made any difference.

Is homogenized milk just difficult to foam? Is it my technique? What are the effects of the different processes (or fat levels) on milk steaming?

"Coffee leads men to trifle away their time, scald their chops, and spend their money, all for a little base, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking nauseous puddle water." ~The Women's Petition Against Coffee, 1674

I've had little to no success with the OV Grassmilk...and agree with you it's very tasty. I gave up trying after a couple of cartons. And yes, Len, it is indeed non-homogenized. In fact, there is a second reason I gave up on it, my son didn't like drinking it because of the layered cream bits. That milk drove me to do some reading about milk homogenization...and perhaps just doing it myself at home....but it's not achievable using standard kitchen tools (even the large KA mixers and blenders fail).

.Always remember the most important thing is what ends up in your cup!

Do you think he was foaming the part of the milk that separated from the top fat layer? If that is the case isn't he just foaming basically skim milk or 1%?

Len

"Coffee leads men to trifle away their time, scald their chops, and spend their money, all for a little base, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking nauseous puddle water." ~The Women's Petition Against Coffee, 1674

Update: I found out which milk Intelligentsia is using. Kilgus Farmstead non-homogenized "special" whole milk. It is not organic. It is not completely grass fed (only "partially"). It is "special" because it has 5% milk fat as opposed to the 4% typical whole milk.

I have to shake the pants off of it before pouring it into the pitcher. Still, it is only a little harder to steam/foam. I stretch it just a little longer - maybe 3 seconds as opposed to about 2 seconds for a 5 oz capp.

A very tasty, sweet milk. Picked it up at Whole Foods.

I did experiment by adding some heavy whipping cream to bring the milk fat up to 5%. I'm trying to match the creamy mouthfeel of Intelli's capp's. Still can't reproduce it.

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